1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to rolling mills producing hot rolled bars and other like long products, and is concerned in particular with an improved bar bundling apparatus.
As herein employed, the term “bars” is to be broadly interpreted to include the entire range of long products that are susceptible to being bundled, irrespective of their cross sectional shapes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mill customers are now demanding smaller bar bundles with weights of approximately 100 kg. Thus, in a modern day bar mill producing 100-150 metric tons/hr, if the mill is to operate at full capacity, the bundler must be able to cycle at a rate of 1,000-1,500 bundles/hr.
Conventional bundlers are hampered in their ability to do so because the steps in forming each bundle (accumulating a predetermined number of bars into a batch; tying the batch into a bundle; discharging the completed bundle) occur sequentially at a single location, which means that formation of the next bundle cannot begin until the previous bundle has been completed and discharged.